Rosenqvist becomes first triple winner in the FIA F3

At the 4.326 kilometres long Red Bull Ring in Styria, Swede Felix Rosenqvist wrote history by winning three races in a row.

In the third race of the fifth racing weekend, Red Bull-backed Russian Daniil Kvyat (Carlin) again finished second from Austrian Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam). In the drivers’ standings, Rosenqvist has reduced his gap to points’ leader Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam) to 27.5 points. The Italian finished sixth in the action-packed race.

At the start, Raffaele Marciello took the lead, but pole sitter Daniil Kvyat and Saturday’s double winner, Felix Rosenqvist, put him under massive pressure on the first kilometres and eventually found a way past the Italian. Rosenqvist returned from the opening lap as the leader in the race, followed by Kvyat, Marciello, Marciello and Nicholas Latifi (Carlin). On the second lap, however, the safety car was deployed: Jann Mardenborough (Carlin) had spun and was stuck on the track. Tom Blomqvist (Eurointernational) touched the Carlin driver’s car, Måns Grenhagen (Van Amersfoort Racing) couldn’t avoid a collision with Mardenborough. Dennis van de Laar (Van Amersfoort Racing), who followed immediately behind his team-mate Grenhagen, ran into the back of the Swede’s car as a chain reaction.

Just after the re-start, Marciello dropped back to eighth place while Rosenqvist and Kvyat were able to hold on to their positions at the front of the field. Lucas Auer moved up into third place. This order remained unchanged until the chequered flag was out. Harry Tincknell (Carlin), Jordan King (Carlin), Raffaele Marciello, Nicholas Latifi, Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam), Luis Felipe Derani (Fortec Motorsports) and Roy Nissany (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) filled the remaining top ten spots.

Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport)
“As the three races and the point score are concerned, it was a perfect weekend for me. I have reduced the gap to Raffaele in the points’ standings. The third race started with a tough battle for the lead on the opening lap, in which I managed to beat Daniil and Raffaele. The re-start after the safety car intervention went well for me and I was able to hold onto the lead. However, I couldn’t make a mistake today, because Daniil was behind me all the time.”

Daniil Kvyat (Carlin)
“On one hand, I am happy, because today, I was able to follow Felix and I didn’t have to let him pull away. Here, we improved from one race to another and that is a positive thing. On the other hand, victory was a possibility today ad therefore, I am a little bit disappointed. Our pace was sufficient for a win, but unfortunately, my start wasn’t optimal again.”

Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam)
“My start and the opening lap were good and thus, I was able to move up into fourth place. Just after the re-start following the safety car intervention, I was able to overtake Raffaele and I was third. After that, I was fortunate that the drivers behind me were fighting and I could pull a slight gap. Eventually, that was a happy end to my home round, which in total didn’t entirely go as planned.”